Official Will and Testament
I, Theodore Pelatiah Huntington, hereby declare my official will and testament.
Immediately after my death, all my property is to be auctioned off and sold to the highest bidder in a free auction open to the public (ebay is permissable), or any other appropriate market (for example condos are not sold on ebay, etc), except for my works (videos, books, audio, computer hardware and software, robots, etc) which are to be given to the University of California on the condition that money from any works they sell must go to preserving my works and body, and that any of my property they throw out must first pass ownership to the remaining genetic family members. The University of California must take possession of the above property within 6 months of my death or ownership will transfer to the remaining genetic family members who must sell all property as directed above. All property that cannot be sold after an ebay listing or is under $10 in value may transfer ownership to the remaining genetic family members and be kept or thrown away. It is my hope that all of my works will be accessible for non-destructive viewing at all times for all people. All money that remains after all my expenses are paid should go to:
1) preserving my body for the longest time possible
2) preserving my works (this includes all writings, typings, audio and video recordings, robots)
I want to dedicate half of any money resulting from sale of my estate property to preserving my body (1), and half of my remaining money to preserving my works (2).
As pertains to 1), my body is to be preserved and stored for as much time as possible and for at least 500 years. The best method of preservation should be used. My current opinion is that vacuum freezing (See cryonics, for example http://www.answers.com/cryogenics) of my entire body or just my head should be done for as much time as possible. I am a believer in science, and it is my wish to preserve my body until a time, when science has improved and is much more advanced than now, when people can bring my body back to life and restore my body to a younger stage of aging, if ever that is possible, and I feel certain that it will be. I object to any destructive activity happening to my head after death, such as in the event of an autopsy. If the cause of death appears clear, I prefer to have no autopsy done.
As pertains to 2), a web provider (canaca.com is preferrable, but any other is acceptable), must be paid and guarantee to store and maintain all of my electronic works, providing basic read access to all people for as much time as possible given the remaining funds, and for at least 500 years. In addition, a web name register (currently godaddy.com) must be paid to hold the name tedhuntington.com, tedhuntington.org and tedhuntington.us for at least 500 years.
For both 1) and 2), at any time, ofcourse, more money may be accepted from other people at any time.
Any remaining money not needed to store my body or works should be stored in two interest accumulating savings accounts for future use in preserving my body and works, joint owned by the University of California and genetic family members. It is permissible and my wish that some money (perhaps a few thousand) may be put to use in a self-sustaining way as described in the "Ted Huntington Awards (The Photon)" (tedhuntington.com/award.htm).
If damage to my brain is such that my brain is totally unusable and will never function in any way, no life support is necessary and I would then allow my life to end, although if there are funds to keep me alive, keeping me alive is permissable.
In the event that I am "brain dead", and have no activity, no thought images or sounds, and am being kept alive through artificial means, if there is a possibility of me having even partial use of my brain some time in the future, my desire is to be kept alive for as long as there are funds (again, half of the money left after my death may be used for this cause). As a basic guiding principle, every possible action should be done to keep me alive, out of pain, in the best working condition possible, in the event of damage to my body. My guess is that there would not be enough money to keep me alive for very long, and ultimately that will probably determine what happens.
In terms of an executor of my will. The executor should be paid no more than $10,000 USD of my money for their work in administering this will, and reimbursed for any of their own money spent on my estate expenses while administering my will. The executor is to be chosen by the majority of the remaining genetic family members and may be a genetic family member. To quickly summarize the process. All my property is to be auctioned and sold to the highest bidder within 5 years of my death, except for property under $10 in value, or does not sell on ebay (which passes ownership to genetic family members) and for my works which a representative of the University of California will, within 6 months (at which time ownership of my works will transfer to genetic family members in accordance with above), either accept and store or pass on to be auctioned, accepting the condition that any money from their sale of any of my property must go to preserving my body and works as described above, and that any works thrown out must pass shared ownership by all living genetic family members.
I realize that there are many uncertainties in how these small funds are to be used, so I understand that some amount of questions may have to be answered by those that are left to try to enforce my will, and I ask that you use fairness, democracy, and basic logic in making all final decisions pertaining to the distribution of my remaining funds.
As a final statement, I think the universe is a beautiful place, and am happy to be a part of it. There is something awesome about being made of photons, like the rest of matter in the infinite universe. What our mission in life is, or what the purpose of any piece of matter is, is a mystery to me, but it is an awesome system of life growing on planets of stars, moving their stars together and travelling around the universe. Clearly science and the pursuit of truth, pleasure, stopping of violence and pain, supporting democracy, fairness and justice appeal to me the most. It's amazing the way galaxies exist, the way life evolved. I think the movement of all matter may be unchangable, in other words, I do think an absolute fate is probably the way the universe is, but that what that fate is cannot be calculated. The universe, all the space, matter and time may be a set of very very detailed and interesting stories that are the result of trillions and trillions of particles of light moving on some unchangable, but unknowingly large and complex path. I do not know what will happen to the particles in my body when I die, but they were here before I was half sperm and half ovum, and they will continue on, on their path, in what direction and purpose is unknown.
Theodore Pelatiah Huntington
10/15/2005 AD
ammended 02/16/2007 CE
ammended 03/07/2008 CE
ammended 03/24/2008 CE